The inspiration came from a cyberpunk-styled cosplay helmet purchased from Amazon a year prior. I wanted the character to have a cyberpunk theme with demonic-inspired elements.
Virtual Avatar by AI
I’m a seasoned online content creator with 15+ years of experience making videos and writing blogs across YouTube and other social media. A trend that emerged during the height of the pandemic was Virtual YouTubers, or “V-Tubers.” Having a model made professionally can be costly — so I set out to see if a V-Tuber avatar could be built using only AI.
Inspiration
AI Tool
This process uses DreamStudio by Stability.AI, powered by the SDXL 1.0 model. The tool supports multiple visual styles; for this project I chose the Anime style.
First Iteration
Using the helmet as a sample image, I fed it into the model with the prompt: FRONT VIEW OF A MAN WITH ROBOTIC ARMS WEARING A FUTURISTIC HELMET WITH GLOWING RED HORNS. SLEEVELESS DARK RED TRENCH COAT AND A BULLETPROOF VEST. FOUR IRON CHAINS HANG FROM HIS NECK LIKE JEWELRY. The result proved too sample-dependent, so I removed the image and relied on the prompt alone.
Second Iteration
The prompt was updated to specify ethnicity and a half-body V-Tuber composition. After several iterations, results aligned with my vision. I randomized the finalized prompt multiple times and selected the best output.
Final Result
After selecting the final generated image, I hired someone to rig the asset as a live avatar. After debuting the model on YouTube, feedback from the VTubers community showed they couldn’t tell the avatar was AI-generated.
